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High school was a mess. I mean, it's already a mess. And then you make it a Catholic all-girls school and it's a huge mess.
Annie Anchor, SpexBase by Sophie Stark
HE - Jennifer’s Requiem
Note: This is in a Choose Your Own Adventure format. You can either read it all the way through (revealing all the options) or read until you hit a set of numbered options and pick the option you desire, then scroll to where that number shows up beside a block of text and continue reading. This chapter is part of my Hallway’s End series, a larger story. This is a bonus chapter and can be read as a stand-alone. More Hallway’s End chapters to come!
Hallway’s End: Jennifer’s Requiem By Sophie Stark
You open your eyes. You are in a blank white room with only a metal toilet unit and a solid door with a small slot at the bottom. You do not know where you are, but you know why. Your name is Jennifer Hall and you are in danger. You knew this was the right thing to do but you knew the consequences, and here you are. The Essery Ring is the most dangerous criminal organization on the eastern seaboard. And your father was a Ringleader. You found out and made it your mission to dispose of him. On April 6, 2092, your plan will come to a close. The events you put in action will bear sweet fruit. Your brother Edmund will discover what he was meant to do. You have planted everything. It does not matter whether you live or die. In your actions, you are immortal.
The only question is: how will they finish you? You imagine the possibilities. It could be simple. A gunshot or a poison would do it. Starvation, torture, or bludgeoning would work. Burning or drowning would be more elaborate. They may even craft a death ritual, a sacrifice to the Deep Ones. The possibilities are endless and your mind wanders. Death is final and you welcome it - as long as the Ring is destroyed.
The Ring first revealed itself when you were a child. At your school two children disappeared. The police investigation ruled it a kidnapping. The bodies were never found. But you followed a trail - a digital path that led you straight into the heart of the beast. You tracked down their teachers and their connections. That was how you met Mrs. V.
You started getting messages from her, telling you to stop. Telling you that you were going to regret investigating. Telling you that the children were beyond help. But you refused to stop. Your sense of justice was too strong and you knew that somehow, this was even more important than the lives of two kids. You knew that this was something more. And you had to find out.
The messages intensified. And one day, you hit the jackpot.
You found a single Ace of Spades in an empty backlot only a few streets from the school. Scrawled on the back were the words “boy and girl ready”. You knew this was it. Mrs. V grew frantic, bombing your inbox with warnings. It seems she wanted to protect you.
Now, years later, you know why.
You look around the room again. You have no reason because you already know what’s in here. There is no way for you to get out. There are no vents or windows. The floor is solid concrete. The only thing you can do is wait. Whatever they are going to do to you has already been decided.
1: Remember. 2: Wait.
1: You think about your past. This could be your last chance to do so. You remember your happy childhood with your father and mother. You remember your brother, with his big grey eyes and soft russet hair. Then you remember the nights you were locked in your room, when your mother was weeping and your father refused to stay in the house. And after that, your brother had green eyes and pale hair, and you asked why, and got no answers. You know they thought you wouldn’t notice. They thought you were too young. Too stupid. But all along, you knew.
He was not your brother.
Your parents were playing a game. Ultimately, they lost. Your mother hung herself and your father - you did the honors. You had the Ace of Spades. The highest card in the entire deck. And gradually, all the secrets of those years started to unravel.
The only secret you don’t know the answer to is “Who is Mrs. V?”. It has eluded you all this time. Maybe she was just feeding you into this trap. Maybe this was her endgame. But something tells you that isn’t true. You know that she is on your side. And with that, you wait.
2: You wait. You sit in the corner. You lie down. You sit again. You adjust your legs because they are falling asleep. You stand up. You walk around the cell. You lean on the walls. You sit in the corner again. There is no clock. There is no window. You do not know how much time has elapsed. Eventually, you grow tired. On the cold floor, you sleep.
1: Wake up. 1: You open your eyes. You are in a blank white room. A tray has been pushed through the slot in the door. You crawl over and look at it. A bottle of water, a container of mashed potatoes, and an apple are on the tray. You forgo caution and start eating. You are so void of energy that you don’t even care if it is poisoned. Hours later, you feel nothing. The food was safe. Why are they keeping you here? Your thoughts race.
You need to get the attention of your captors. You can’t stay in here without knowing anything. It’ll drive you insane.
1: Bang on the door. 2: Shout at the door.
1: You pound on the door. It is thick, solid metal. You bang harder and harder, feeling the sides of your hand going dull with pain. Your hands are turning red. You pound and pound but there is no response. 2: You shout at the door. You keep shouting until your throat feels hoarse. It isn’t working.
You need something louder to get their attention.
1: Smash the tray against the door.
You smash the tray against the door. You scrape metal against metal. You smash it over and over, harder and harder, until your arms are weary. If they can't hear that there's something wrong.
Minutes later, you hear a loud mechanical click. The door slowly begins to move open. You step back from it. There is no going back. A tall figure stands behind the door, his head shrouded by a ski mask. He beckons for you to come forth.
“Turn around,” he says. His voice is firm and gentle, but you know there is no kindness behind it. You oblige. You can feel the cold metal of the handcuffs against your sore wrists. “My name is Mr. R.”
“I'm sure you know my name,” you answer. “Yes, Ms. Hall. I am sorry we had to meet like this.” You are silent. “Do you want to know why you are here?” “Yes.” “You killed Roderick Hall.” “My father was a monster by the time I did that. I was doing the world a service.” “Yes, but he was a monster in our employ, and you took him from us. A man like that, a man with no morals, is worth more than fifty normal men. A man like that can kill and maim and destroy and not think twice about the ramifications. He can take a child from its mother and gut its throat if we tell him too. And your father was that man.” “That’s why I had to kill him.” “What do you think is going to happen?” “I’m going to die.” “Do you believe in God, Ms. Hall?” “I believe in what's in front of me.” “Then tell me, Ms. Hall. What's in front of you?” “Death.” “Smart girl,” says Mr. R. He leads you down a dark hallway, illuminated by small electric lights. A single metal door at the end of the hallway is illuminated by a bluish light. You slowly approach the door.
Mr. R uses an electronic node to unlock the door. The bluish light intensifies and you step into a room. It is dark except for the glare of monitors and electronic displays. A large cylinder, large enough for a man to stand in, is at the center of the room. You don't even need to think about what this is. Based on what you know about the Essery Ring, there's no doubt that you are standing in front of a cryo-preservation unit.
The idea is a horrifying one. To be suspended, frozen in time, in a jar, suspect to the whims of anyone outside - unthinking, unfeeling, and unmoving. That's what cyro-preservation is to you. And you've been brought here for one reason alone. You stare at the unit. Mr. R tightens his grip on your arm.
1: Try to break free. 2: Talk to Mr. R. 3: Comply.
1: You wrestle your arm out of Mr. R’s strong grip and bolt for the door. You sprint down the dark hallway. You have to get out. If you’re caught it’s over. You will die if you don’t get out. You cannot be put in cyro-preservation. Too much is at stake. Now, you remember why you are here. The thoughts begin to flow and rush. You have to get out and trigger the events leading up to April 6, 2092. Stuck in cyro-freeze that will never happen.
Edmund needs your guidance. You couldn’t save your family - but you can save your brother, blood or not. You sprint down the hallway as fast as you can. Your legs ache. Your lungs are about to give out. As you near the hallway’s end, you catch a glimpse of a staircase. You are so close you can feel it.
You hear a click and a faint hiss of gas. “Surrender, Jennifer Hall. I’ve released the gas.”
You are unable to resist. The gas takes you to your knees. Everything fades to black.
2: You can buy yourself some time. You start to talk to Mr. R, asking him inane questions about the location of the facility, his age, his family, how he joined the Essery Ring, and why he's doing this. You get some satisfying answers, but that doesn’t matter. The only thing you are trying to do is stall. The last thing you want is to be placed in the cyro-freeze and you know that is exactly what is about to happen. But what you want to know is: why you? Why are they going to freeze you? You aren't a member of the Ring. They can't even perform experiments on you while you're in there. Honestly you don't see the point. All you know is that you are in danger. Once you're frozen, anything could happen.
3: You comply with Mr. R. He tells you, calmly and firmly, that this is the end of the road. He tells you that you are to be placed in cyro-preservation here at the Essery Ring's underground base. He tells you that everything you fought for was worthless. He tells you that they have already caught Edmund Hall and executed him. He tells you that everything will be over. You ask him why he is doing this and he says nothing. He tells you finally, “You are going to serve the Ring.” “What?” “We are going to freeze you and alter your brain. Effectively it's a form of lobotomy, but one that leaves higher brain function intact. You will become completely controllable and programmable. A robot of flesh. You will carry out the things for the Ring that your father once did. And you will do it completely obligingly.” You want to scream but you know there's no point. You are going to die today. Anything left of Jennifer Hall will perish with whatever they're going to do to your frozen body. You cannot stop this. It is over. You close your eyes, and Mr. R guides you towards the cyro-preservation unit.
“This will feel like you are going to sleep,” he says. The door of the cylinder shuts and a hiss seals it. “I've activated the airtight lock. Depressurizing in 10, 9, 8, 7...”
The gas is sucked out of the cylinder. You start to choke, but a tube descends from the top and affixes itself to your face. You feel the tube rudely jutting into your throat. Air flows from it into your lungs. Your eyes are tearing up. A viscous liquid is slowly rising around your ankles. Soon, you are coated in the substance. You feel the temperature lowering. Small black nodes are attached to your chest.
The nodes begin to pulsate with electric vibrations. They pulsate faster and faster. There is nothing you can do now. The shocks have you unconscious within seconds. You fall into a state of suspension.
1: Wake up. You open your eyes. You do not know what year it is. All you know is that you are in a cyro-preservation cell and you have just been unfrozen. The Essery Ring! They've implanted you with something, haven't they? You can't feel anything different. You still have free will and your thoughts are your own. You aren't the soulless flesh bot that Mr. R insinuated. You still can escape. You can get out of here. You can warn Edmund and everyone else. You can bring down the Essery Ring. You can destroy them like they tried to destroy you.
You push the door of the cyro unit open and climb out. Your body is covered with the drying remnants of the viscous fluid. It is a bright, sickly blue. The last time you saw this room it was dark, but it is fully illuminated now. The walls are stark white. All the computers and equipment are in the same place as you last saw them. There is nothing you can do now but escape.
1: Escape. You leave the room. Strangely, the door was unlocked. You rush down the hallway. At the end of the hallway is a staircase. You climb the stairs and reach a hatch. You force it open.
The light hits your eyes. The sun is bright. You are in a field of beautiful green grass.
END OF JENNIFER’S REQUIEM
This work by Sophie Stark is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The ANCHORHOLD Script - Opening Lines
Here’s your first look at the start of ANCHORHOLD - and its determined, yet apathetic protagonist, Sarah T612. I’d love any and all feedback. What do you think when you read this scene? First impressions of the tone? Thoughts on Sarah as a character? I’ll be adding more portions of the screenplay soon. Stay tuned!
FADE IN:
INT. BATHROOM - MORNING
The air is cold. The bathroom is sparse, with grey walls and streamlined metal fixtures. It looks like a vision of the future, stripped of luxury. SARAH T612, 20, stands in front of the mirror, pulling on a black spandex shirt. She has dark hair and light eyes. A well-worn uniform jacket is on the hook behind her.
Sarah looks herself over in the mirror, blankly. She musses up her short hair and splashes her face with water. She glances, briefly, at the uniform jacket.
SARAH (V.O) I always wondered what it would be like to have a last name.
Sarah opens the mirror cabinet, grabs the toothpaste and the toothbrush. She starts brushing her teeth, being careful not to stain her shirt. She's stressed. She's always stressed.
SARAH (V.O) I think about saving money. I think about money all the time. I think maybe one day I'll have saved enough money to buy a last name.
She finishes and unhooks the uniform jacket. It has a patch reading ANCHORHOLD COMMERCE COMPANY.
SARAH (V.O) If I had a last name, I'd be in a club in a shining cocktail dress, standing at the bar. Vodka in my hand, Russian import. Topped with slices of lime. I'd gamble. I'd drink. I'd feast on beautiful grilled steak and artisan pasta and finish off the night with a waltz on the balcony. Surrounded by beautiful people. (beat) I don't have a last name. I'm never going to have a last name.
Sarah puts away her toiletries and closes the mirror cabinet. She smiles. It's a fake smile. One to motivate herself. She opens the bathroom door to leave. A small blue light is seen above the mirror as the lights go off. The light grows brighter.
This work by Sophie Stark is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
It's like a generator. It just pulses. It's constant. Steady. So few things are. This is clockwork. This is what we are. I am waiting for nothing. I know what I am going to do. I do it every day. At the same time, in the same motions. I get up. I nod at the secretary at her counter. I push open the doors. I stand at a balcony above the streets of the city. Lights. Flashes. Fire. And I breathe.
Sarah T612, ANCHORHOLD by Sophie Stark
I always wondered what it would be like to have a last name.
Sarah T612, ANCHORHOLD by Sophie Stark
They say that fifty years ago, the companies figured out a way to get rid of tobacco. Make smokeless cigarettes. But people kept demanding their smokes back. They wanted the cancer. They wanted the rotten lungs. They wanted to taste the ash and breathe the fire. So the companies gave them what they wanted. They gave them back their poison.
Sarah T612, ANCHORHOLD by Sophie Stark
ANCHORHOLD is my current project. It is a screenplay about the future. The protagonist, Sarah T612, is an Everyman. She lives in Toronto, and the year is 2090. Sarah accepts her reality with the fiercely apathetic determination that marks everyone in this renewed cityscape. Through her eyes, we see an imperfect world through the perfect lens.
ANCHORHOLD has been called "reminiscent of Stephen King", "hedonistic", "nihilistic", and "noir". I am not sure what it will evoke in anyone, but I hope it will evoke something.
As I continue working on ANCHORHOLD's script, I will post snippets of it as little previews. I would love any constructive criticism or feedback! For an advance copy, contact me at [email protected]
I am the architect of that which should never be designed.
I Am Fire Made Whole by Sophie Stark
